If your Brighton Fringe 2025 event charges for a ticket and uses music in any way, you will need to provide a list of that music in Eventotron in Step 9: Music Usage.
Using this information, our Artist & Venue Services Team will assist you in working out your PPL PRS Ltd contributions (see below for more information about PPL PRS Ltd). This is all part of the support we offer to you during Fringe!
Brighton Fringe will then advise you of any fees payable to PPL PRS. The PPL PRS fee will be deducted from your Brighton Fringe Box Office settlement before you receive it
All events in the 2025 season must complete STEP 9: MUSIC USAGE in their Eventotron registration by 17.00 16 May 2025.
Venues need to hold a PPL PRS licence to play any copyrighted music before and after your event takes place, but this will not be valid for the music used during your Fringe event. If a venue does not hold an existing PPL PRS licence they can obtain a background music licence for the duration of the Fringe. We will have exact rates for this licence by January 2025; the rate for 2024 was £80+VAT. Please email [email protected] for more details.
Fringe events wishing to digitally live stream a small-scale ticketed event originating in the UK have to obtain an OLC licence. This includes DJs, classical and popular music as well as theatre and variety shows. You can find more information about OLC licences here.
You will need to get an OLC licence from PRS, and we will deduct PPL in line with the tariffs for in-person shows.
PPL PRS Ltd is a not-for-profit music licensing organisation that collects royalties on behalf of its 104,000 songwriters, composers and publisher members whenever their music is played, performed, broadcast or reproduced.
PPL PRS (Phonographic Performance Limited/The Performing Right Society) collect licence fees from UK businesses and organisations on behalf of their parent companies, PPL and PRS for Music. Despite this merger, the two organisations still collect licence fees covering two different kinds of music rights. You may be required to pay a music licence fee to cover you for one, or both, of these licensing areas.
PPL then distributes these music licence fees for the use of recorded music on behalf of record companies and recording artists, while PRS for Music distributes music licence fees for the use of musical compositions and lyrics on behalf of songwriters, composers and publishers.
The Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 says that permission is required from the copyright owner in order to play music in public - i.e. outside the home and domestic life.
If you have any questions regarding the use of music in your event, please contact [email protected]
Talking to the Box Office...
